Entangled
by shinyfairylights
Summary: Drabbles based on Asami Sato and General Iroh.
1. Hell

**Prompt:** _Hell_

* * *

Firebenders have never been a sign of anything good in Asami's life.

She tries not to be afraid when she hears the soft _whoosh_ as a flame erupts from Mako's fist, or the swing of Korra's leg. Since her mother's death, she's never been comfortable around fire.

Asami would silently dare herself to sit in front of the fireplace in her younger days, a safe distance away, her knees hugged to her chest. She would see how long she could wait before the fear was too much to handle. Her own self course in hiding her emotions.

She's seventeen when her heart is broken, once again, by a firebender. This time it wasn't her family he took, but a piece of herself - the idealistic, romantic dreams of an industry princess.

It's no wonder when the third firebender comes into her life, she gives him a little bit of hell.


	2. Vulnerable

**Prompt**: _Vulnerable_

* * *

It's times like this, when the two of them are bent over engineering plans and she's pointing out just what a particular part does on her (father's) airplanes, that she feels the most vulnerable.

It feels like she's sharing a secret, one nobody bothered to learn before. She'd always been a little different in her interests, preferring speed and the wind in her hair to giggling about boys and gossiping about friends. Asami never bothered to hide who she was, but she never connected to someone like this. An easy give and take that felt as natural as breathing.

Then something would happen - Bolin would tumble in with some incredible story or Mako and Korra would come in to brief the General on something, their pinkies enterlocked and reminding Asami that vulnerable moments are the ones she needs to avoid.


	3. Birthmark

**Prompt:** _Birthmark_

* * *

It's startling when fingertips brush the edge of her earlobe, making her jump and jerk her head away at the same time. There's amusement in his eyes as her reaction draws everyone's eyes to her. Forcing a smile, she gave a tiny shrug. _Just had a chill_, is her lame excuse.

When everyone looked forward to Korra, who was leaning over a map with her index finger firmly planted on the Northern Water Tribe, Asami shot Iroh a glare. It was hard to keep their growing relationship quiet from her friends, but when he blatantly teased her it made her life just a little more difficult.

He winked at her, turning his attention back to the Avatar, and Asami resisted the urge to stomp her foot. Rubbing her fingers against her earlobe, as if to scrub away the tingling that his fingers left behind, she wonders why he is so fascinated with a tiny star shaped mark that had been on her skin since the day she was born.


	4. Liar

**Prompt: **_Liar_

* * *

_You've been spending a lot of time with General Iroh lately,_ observes Korra with a smirk.

Of course she has, they're working on a project together.

_Hey, the General kind of stares at you a lot, doesn't he?_ Bolin questions as he visits Asami in her office.

Surely he doesn't, Bolin's just been talking to Korra too much.

_I'm glad you're getting out more - Iroh's certainly handsome man, isn't he?_ Pema smiles at Asami with knowing eyes.

He is, but that has nothing to do with ending her self-imposed exile.

_Be careful. He's - well, I'm worried._ Mako mumbles as he looks away, knowing he doesn't have the place to worry about her romantic life of all things.

Each answer she gives is a carefully crafted lie, to everyone and to herself. Asami Sato left daydreams and wishful thinking behind the day she learned the truth about her father, and she has no time for idle fantasies.

_Liar._


	5. Flowers

**Prompt: **_Flowers_

* * *

The flowers on his desk continued to befuddle him.

More often than not, he found himself staring at them, wondering what she was trying to do. When he'd posed the question to her as she held out a bouquet of flowers to him, she'd smiled. _Maybe I'm trying to woo you, General._

The idea was preposterous, of course. Courting someone was an outdated idea, long ago left behind with old traditions and customs. Especially in a place such as Republic City. The Fire Nation, however, still clung to the old ways.

At that point, General Iroh usually found himself deep in thought whenever the flowers caught his eye, pondering old customs and why some things were let go. His men would come into his office, hesitating when they saw the furrowed brow of their General.

After a week of being distracted, he decided turnabout was fair play. She managed to fluster him, so it was only appropriate that he woo her back.


End file.
